How Ratified NFL CBA Impacts Seahawks

Though the vote came down to the wire, NFL players voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement. How will this new deal effect the Seahawks in 2020 and beyond?

After weeks of anticipation and an extended period for voting, NFL players voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement, bringing the league labor peace through 2030.

While the proposed agreement had plenty of critics, including Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner, players voted 1,019 to 959 in favor of ratification. Under the terms of the new CBA, the NFL will transition to a 17-game regular season schedule as early as 2021, the playoff field will be expanded by one team in each conference immediately, and the minimum salary on contracts will increase by $100,000.

There’s several other details to unwrap here with the agreement being approved by NFL players, but how will the CBA impact the Seahawks? Here’s a few quick thoughts on the new labor deal.

Seattle will have a little less money to play with in free agency than expected.

Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the NFL salary cap will increase to $198.2 million, roughly a five percent increase from 2019. But that’s not close to what OverTheCap.com projected and based on these official numbers, the Seahawks will only have around $39 million in available cap space to work with. That’s still enough to re-sign a few key players, including Jadeveon Clowney, but this may necessitate restructuring contracts for high-priced veterans such as Justin Britt and K.J. Wright to create a bit more financial wiggle room. With both players having bonuses coming next Friday, the clock is ticking to make a move in that regard.

Much to the delight of Pete Carroll, active roster size will increase to 55 players, with 48 active on game days.

Among one of the best parts of this new agreement, all 32 NFL teams will be able to dress an additional two players on game day. Which position group should be happiest about this arrangement? No question it’s the offensive line, as teams will be required to have at least eight active on game day as part of the deal. While two more players may not seem like much, it creates a lot more flexibility for coaches making roster decisions, especially late in the season when injuries strike and players are banged up. Practice squads are also slated to increase in size. Carroll has been a proponent of expanding rosters for years and will be pleased with this change.

Current Seahawks will have a mixed reaction to the CBA passing, but don’t expect it to create locker room strife.

Over the past few weeks as details about the new CBA became public, players such as Wilson, Wagner, Tyler Lockett, and Quandre Diggs have been outspoken critics of the agreement and tried to persuade players to vote no. While few players have publicly commented or tweeted since the agreement was approved, Diggs did go to social media to share his thoughts on how players were “bamboozled” by the owners into a 17-game season without an extra bye week or increasing revenue share. Though many established veterans won’t be happy about this arrangement, however, there’s enough going on outside of sports right now that these feelings will quickly pass and this shouldn’t lead to any long-term issues in the locker room.

Though Seattle won’t care, teams will only be allowed to use the franchise tag OR the transition tag moving forward.

A small loophole created the opportunity for teams to use both the franchise and transition tags this offseason while a new CBA was being discussed and voted on. But now that labor peace has been achieved, teams will only be able to use one of them as they have for years. Not that this matters to general manager John Schneider, who has only used the franchise tag twice in 10-plus years at the helm and already made it clear he’s not planning to use either tag this year. That’s just not how Seattle operates, which means Jarran Reed and Germain Ifedi will certainly be hitting free agency when it opens later this week.

There's now an increased shot for Seattle to return to the playoffs for a ninth time in 11 seasons... but there's a catch.

By approving the new CBA, the NFL will immediately add an extra wild card in both conferences and thus creating a two extra wild card round games to open the playoffs. This means more television revenue for the league and players will certainly benefit as a result. The Seahawks haven't had any trouble making the postseason under Carroll, but playing in a rugged NFC West division, the extra wild card could come in handy. The downside? Seattle has fared better in the playoffs with home field advantage and the new implemented structure eliminates one of the first-round byes in each conference. The franchise has never made a Super Bowl without earning one of those coveted byes, so that could be a negative trade off.